Ship-propeller.



' B. GREIF.

,SHIP PROPELLER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG,YO.1914. www@ Futented Oct. 5, 1915.

' BRUNO GREIF, OF TACOMA, VASHINGTON.

SHIP-PROPELLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @et 5, i915.

Application ledug'ust 10, 1914. Serial No. 855,993.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, BRUNO Gann, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tacoma, in the county of Pierce and State of Washington, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ship-Propellers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for propelling ships and is especially an improvement in that class of propellers known as stern wheels.

It has for itsobjects to provide an improved form of wheel which will grip the water better without the same amount of slip and disturbance to the water, thus providing a greater thrust for thesame amount of energy expended by the propelling prime mover; to provide a propeller which will adjust itself to the level of the ship in the water and to the waves through which the ship is passing; and to provide means whereby the thrust and therefore the speed may be controlled. I attain these and other objects by the devices, mechanisms and arrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the stern of a ship equipped with my improved propeller, showing however the propeller in vertical longitudinal section; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of a portion of the propeller; and

. Fig. 3 is a section of a portion thereof.

Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views. They ship l may be ofany type and for any purpose, and is provided with a suitable prime mover, such as a steam or oil engine. One or more thrust arms Q are pivotally se- -cured to the end of the ship l at suitable points therein, 'the said arms being of equal lengths and their pivots 3 having a common horizontal axis positioned transversely of the ship. The number of said arms 2 will depend on the width and weight-of the ship l; as many arms being used as can conveniently be placed between the various units of the propeller. These arms 2 are all secured together at their outer or free ends by means of a shaft 4. which is rigidly secured to each arm. The arms and shaft are free to move vertically about the centers of the pivots 3. The shaft 4- is preferably made hollow.

The propeller is preferably divided. into independent units. each separately driven, and each unit is subdivided into smaller sections. All the units are similar and therethe shaft 4. The drums (i act as buoyant y fioats which sustain the propeller in the water. Bent plates 7 are also secured between the plates 5, outside of the drum 6, and'formA the paddles. The preferable arrangement of said plates 7 in a section is that they extend between two points near the periphery of the plates 5 and are bent to contact with the drum 6. The wheel thus formed will have a very few paddles which are widely separated, thus giving time for the water to lill in the space between the paddles and giving the paddle a grip on a greater relative quantity of comparatively still water. The plates 7 in two adjacent sections' of a unit are arranged so that their a-pexes are not in line with each other. The adjacent sections follow each other successively as shown in the drawings.

The plates 5 prevent the water in one section rushing sidewise into the adjacent sec tion and therefore prevent loss of energy since the water is all driven directly backward and reacts in a straight. forward direction. Since the wheel is lfloating on the water its cont-act therewith will be uniform independent of loading conditions on the ship and of wave motion of the sea. plates 5 protect the plates 7 from damage 'from logs, rocks, etc.

It will be seen from Fig. 3 that it is practically impossible for any water to enter the end drums 6 of a unit because it would have to pass through a bearing which is normally out of water and which is pei-force practically watertight; but should a little water leak thereinto it is evident that it will lie at the lowest point thereof and will never reach the bearing of the next plate 5, and therefore the interior of the next drum G will be uniformly dry. The leakage into either of the outer drums (i may bc removed b v a pipe 8 leading to its lowest point and connecting to a suitable pump in the ship (not shown) The through the hollow shaft 4 and through one of the arms 2 (Fig. 3).

Vhen the propellers are driven by electricity (generated on the ship or Otherwise), I mount the driving motor 9 directly ont-he fixed shaft 4c Within one or more of these inner drums 6 (Figs. l and 3), connecting'l the rotating part of the said motor (either directly as shown, or by gearg with the rotating drums and driving he said unit lthrough the drums. The -wires l0 which conduct the electric energy to the motor are conveyed thereto through the arms? and the hollow shaft It is evident, however, that each unit may' be drivenv by cable, chains, links, or any other suitable mechanisn1 but I prefer to use electricity because it gives a greatercontrol of the several units without any complicated mechanism to secure the control. Thus it will be seenthat the ship may be driven by all its unitsv or any one or more may be slowed down,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for stopped, or reversed, thus giving a very large degree of control of the speed and direct-ion of motion of the ship;

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim is1 I In a ship propeller, the combination 'With a ship; thrust arms pivotally secured thereto;" a nonrotating hollow shaft joining the ends oi said arms; a plurality of ,circular disks mounted 0n said shaft and rotating thereon; cylindrical buoyant floats joining said disks and mounted concentric with said shaft,` and being of less dia-meter Athan said disks; paddles extending outward from the V,

floats and secured to the disks ;v anda. suc'- tion pipe passing from'the interior of said hollow shaft to the lowest point in said buoyant float to remove the Water therefrom.

BRUN O GREIF. Witnesses M. F. MGNEIL, l. T. ALLEN.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner o! Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

